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Battle of Twoffes Wood
Snowfire arrived soon soon after Bard received Rossarch's message, with the Lord Protector's return having been slowed by the invasion of the drow. He told Bard that the threat from the Western Wastes was over, but that if he did not abandon his position in Tryr, he risked losing his kingdom and his army. Recognizing that this point was perhaps the deciding moment of the war, Bard gambled everything on a desperate defense of his position in Tryr, hoping that he could decisively defeat Tryr once and for all. By knocking them out of the war, he would eliminate his major rival in the area, and secure his flank against drow attacks. With a majority of his generals either wounded or defending Brun, he was down to just Snowfire, Rossarch, and himself. He set up a defensive line near Twoffes Wood, a hilly area that provided excellent defensive cover. The allied forces came upon them soon after, and quickly deployed nearby. Varagyr was hesitant to assault. While there were reports of an invasion of Brunian territory, their army was still apparently intact, and they had no desire to retreat. A victory here could very well mean the ultimate defeat of the Brunians, and give the allied forces a much needed morale boost, but the dragonborn's defensive positions were significant. Even still, the Tryrian forces were of dubious quality, and he had no desire to bring them up against battle-hardened foes. Slovak, on the other hand, did not share Varagyr's misgivings. He wished for bloody vengeance against the dragonborn for killing his son and laying waste to his kingdom, and advocated highly for an assault. Varagyr, realizing that his food supply would not last him forever, especially in winter, reluctantly agreed to attack, and the battle began in earnest on the 18th. Recognizing Bard's personal battle flag at the center of the Brunian line, Varagyr concentrated his assault most intensely on that point, hoping to break their army in half and destroy it in detail. For two days the battle was waged between the hosts, with the dragonborn fighting fiercely for every inch of territory that they gave. Initially, organized engagements and clearly defined battle lines ruled the field, but as time went on, disorganization took over. The allied men, already fatigued from the long march in the frigid weather, became more and more exhausted as the cold seeped through their clothing and armor, and their exhaustion continued as they were forced to continually fight. The dragonborn's thick scaly hides protected them from such fierce weather, and their fierce constitution allowed them to continue the fight. Under the leadership of Rossarch, the dragonborn utilized a variety of unorthodox tactics, causing avalanches using the dragonborn's inherent fire breath, hiding in the snow to ambush allied patrols, and . The fight became a complete and utter mess, with a battlefield of several miles across, and little cohesion between the forces; orders often were completely lost in the snow, and the army broke into small squads, often times without a commander. Eventually, the dragonborn's center began to buckle back under the sheer weight of the forces arrayed against them, and the allied forces raggedly surged forward, sensing victory was approaching. However, this sprang Bard's trap. The left and right flanks, under Rossarch and Snowfire, had slowly been extending their forces and encircling the allied forces at the center of the valley. The disarrayed allies were caught in the resulting deathtrap, with thousands being caught completely off guard and trampled in the ensuing panic. Gossoth was wrenched from his ox, his head being brutally smashed in soon after. Slovak was caught attempting to rally the forces and was bodily launched from his own horse, soon suffocating from his own men squashing him to death in their panic to flee. The Brunians suffered terrible casualties, with 5,000 fatalities, nearly a third of their force. Their men were also completely exhausted. However, the allies suffered far more catastrophic casualties, losing nearly two thirds of their force. Nearly the entire Tryrian force was wiped out, with only a token force of a couple thousand escaping the trap under the command of Gordon Onock. Their King and Lord Protecter were both dead, and nearly their entire lineage of chivalric knights were wiped out. The Rangosians fared a bit better, with nearly 8,000 making it out under Varagyr and General Claus and rallying a few miles back. Gordon sent a message to the Rangosians asking them to help him organize a defense of the capital, a request promptly ignored by Varagyr as he marched his men straight back to Rangos. Bard had won one of the most stunning victories in history, completely destroying his enemy's army as a fighting force, and with comparatively significant less loss of life in his own army. Recognizing that the war in Tryr had effectively been decided, he allowed his men to rest for a few more days, engorging themselves upon the supply train left behind in the allies' rout. He marched on Garrick with 10,000 men, sending the rest under Snowfire to break the siege of Teraholm, and drive the drow back to their own lands. Background Order of Battle Brun order of battle Rangos-Tryr order of battle Battle Aftermath